Those lonely twisty pines

The speaker talks about how rain inspires artists and describes the beauty and refreshing qualities of rain. They mention being a painter and how rain creates interesting lighting and movement that motivates them to paint. They also talk about a series of paintings they do of twisty pines in Canada and how the roots of these trees symbolize survival and perseverance. The speaker encourages listeners to find strength in the resilience of the twisty pines. They also mention their podcast series where they discuss the experiences of artists. There's nothing like a beautifully rainy day, makes you want to make a cup of tea or a coffee, whatever it is your favorite. Grab your brushes, sit down by the window or maybe get out in your car and go for a drive somewhere really dramatic, really cool, and hunker down and get that sketch done. What is it about artists? I guess when everyone else seems to be running in from the rain, we tend to run out into the rain. I know I do. It's one of the coolest things to me, just watching it pour, washing away all of our troubles. Sometimes when I think of the rain, I think of it for all of its beautiful qualities. The nourishment to the ground, the plants are happy, the grass is happy. And when you're lakeside, the water rushing down into the lake, and the motion that seems to ensue every time there's a rainstorm, stirring things up, creating havoc all along the shoreline. But it's good havoc. It refreshes, it makes things come to life. Now when you're a painter like me, you tend to look at the rain as an opportunity. The way shadows are cast in the dim light, the diffused light, the movement of the trees along the shoreline, it just makes the artist want to paint. I paint a series of pine trees on rocks, and they're lonely trees, and here in Canada we affectionately refer to them as twisty pines. I don't know if you've ever seen them, but when you stand out there on the rocks looking at them, their roots are the most remarkable thing you've ever seen. For such a big burly tree standing out there on the rocks, the roots, they just kind of snake their way around the cracks of the rocks. They hold on. And they're usually not very robust, strong looking roots. They're just stringy things that seem to wrap themselves around those boulders. And they support that twisty pine through the rain, through the snow, through the ice, through the torrential storms and through the heat and hot summers. How remarkable they are. And they survive for hundreds of years. The words that come to my mind are survival, and fortitude, tenacity. I want to be just like those trees. Many of us, by the time we've gotten halfway through our lives, we are just like those trees. We've become survivors. We've endured things that we never thought we could endure. And so, we persevere. And that is the story of my lonely twisty pines on the rocks. If you ever feel like you're alone and may not be able to survive it, remember the twisty pines, how they hold on. God gave them those beautiful roots that just cling and reach and hold on. And if you just trust them, they'll be okay. And you'll be okay. And that is the beautiful story behind the McAfee twisty pines. You've been listening to the Lost Paddler podcast series. My name is Robert McAfee, and thank you for joining me for this episode. You can tune in weekly and watch for the latest, where we'll be talking all about things that artists experience. From time to time, we'll have artists join in and have a little discussion about, well, all the ins and outs and all the crazy aspects of an artist's life. You might enjoy it. And if you do, by all means, make sure you share with somebody. And we'll see you again for the next episode of the Lost Paddler, right here on robertmcafee.com.